here we go!

Dearest Lily,

I dropped you off at Morgan School today so you could visit kindergarten. I can't believe that you are ready for this!! But, I can see that you are. You are so smart and creative. You approach life with an intensity that no one I know can match. You love with your whole heart and soul. I am so happy for you, on this day, as you take your first big step on one of the most important journeys of your young life, your education.

Today was windy, but it was warm, so we walked the two blocks to the school. You held my hand and we followed our shadows the whole way. You were quiet but didn't act too nervous. As we waited for your turn to head to the classroom we snuck a quick hug and kiss. I reminded you that I loved you and that you were so grown up. You told me that you already knew that.

To make myself feel better about dropping my first child off for her kindergarten visit, I went shopping and bought you some new clothes. You were thrilled about them when I picked you up. That is one of your favorite things...fashion. You are going to be one of the most fashionable five year olds on the first day of school.

As you start out to school I hope that you know that are loved, you are smart, you are strong and you can have anything in life you want with just a bit of work. I know that you will do great things and I can't wait to watch!

I love you!!

Love,

Mom

Class of 2023

Oh my goodness! Tom and I got a letter in the mail yesterday. It said, "Dear parents of the class of 2023"! It was a letter inviting Lily to visit her school for next year. Here we are, right around the corner from kindergarten. How nuts is that?!


All I have talked about for at least a year is how excited I am that Lily is going to start school. How it will be so nice for her to be in school all day. However, now that we're on the cusp of the all day kindergarten, I'm so sad!! She's not ready to be gone from home ALL DAY!! I will miss her and she will miss our leisurely afternoons.



Instead of being all excited, now I'm just a little bit excited, and a lot sad. I can't believe how much less time I will have with her during her days now. She will be spending more time with her teacher than me!! That's a huge deal. Her teacher better be a good one...really good. This is an important step!!




I swear I won't tell Lily that I'm feeling sad. Well, I might tell her that mommy is a little sad...but I will be sure to stress the excitement, too. I don't want her to feel any guilt or worry about leaving mommy at home without her. It's going to be a hard step to take...but it's an important one.




I remember going to visit my kindergarten classroom nearly 25 years ago. These are the days that she will remember forever. This is where her education begins. Wow is all I can think. Just Wow!

Wordless Wednesday: Stepping Stones

Style Series: Recycle!

Lily made a dress from this trash bag. What I like best about it is the straps that she creatively crossed in the front and back. I wonder if there is a place in town where Lily can go to learn to sew so she can make her own clothes.

Hi Romeo!

Julianna is not running around everywhere yet, but she is saying some pretty cute little things. In this little video she is saying, "Hi Romeo!" She also says "where's drew? (lily, daddy, papa)" and all sorts of other crazy things like strawberry and blueberry. It keeps things interesting!

At her last appointment she weighed a whopping 20 pounds 8 ounces. That puts her in about the 10th percentile, if you're wondering.

I don't know if you can tell in this picture, but she has a very olive skin tone. We were outside all of 15 minutes on this day and she had swimming suit lines on her back!! I'm sure you can also see her teeth in this picture, or should I say fangs? The girl's teeth are coming in in all kinds of crazy ways!! The doctor said not to worry about it, so we're not going to. However, we might set up an account for future orthodontics! :)

Julianna is one expressive child. Here are a couple more of her funny faces!!

For the record though, Julianna has been known to throw one heck of a tantrum...so watch out! :) They don't last long but they pack a punch!!

It's my blog, I can say what I want to.

My mom always taught me to stand up and say something when you felt passionate. She also taught me to stand out in a crowd and speak my mind. She does. She taught me to be an individual. She is. Her personality is to have pink hair, shout support for change in our country and fight many a battle for her children. She is not afraid to be herself. I like that. I appreciate that. And I strive to be a little more like her.

That being said, my personality is one that doesn't want to make waves. I have things I am passionate about and I am not afraid to share my opinion. However, in mixed company, I'd rather keep the peace. This blog has stayed pretty middle of the road. I am not blogging for a cause, to take a stand or to make any big deal really. However, there have been some things on my mind lately and I'd like to share them here. If that's okay with you, that is. :)

I feel like I need to say that I LOVE the Obamas. I am a proud, but usually quiet, supporter. I live in a very red state with many friends that would balk at the idea of supporting such liberalism, but I am not ashamed. I loved Obama in the primary, I loved him during his campaign and I continue to support his presidency. And, Michelle is magnificent in her own way. The most amazing and smart first lady in my lifetime. Friends, I love ya but I just gotta say...I am a supporter of Obama and the change he is trying to bring to our country.

That said, I am frustrated. I am frustrated with all of the hate that is being screamed from the roof tops in my community. I can respect a difference of opinion on many topics. I can respect educated, informed individuals who have done their research to understand an issue to disagree with me. What I can't respect is people openly supporting groups and websites that are wishing for the death of our president or misinformed individuals saying that our country is "going in the wrong direction." Nor can I respect people that use their religion to perpetuate this hate. My opinion of a person is altered when they are posting, saying and writing things that spew hatred of any kind. I cannot not understand it and I cannot ignore it. So, whatever you opinion, please educate yourself on the issues, do your best to understand instead of blindly believing. Please don't just allow for grand, vague and sweeping statements form your opinions about your community, your state or your country.

Understand the issue before you speak.

Reconnecting

Drew, Julianna and I took a day trip to Emporia to see some of my old friends from college. Through the magic of facebook I have reconnected and had lunch with many of my old college friends and even my favorite professor. I love it!

What's funny about the two friends that we met yesterday is that I didn't know them at the same time in college. Jenn was my very first college friend and I met her in the cafeteria during some freshman orientation day. We became fast friends and she saw me through much of my college drama. I met Shawn towards the end of college, as I was finishing my degree and by then Miss Jenn had already graduated and moved away. So, we never hung out all three together until yesterday. In fact, we didn't know that we were all friends with each other until very recently. It was fun to get together and see the dynamic of us all together.

Jenn and I both had babies in January of 2010. They are only 3 weeks apart and just the same size! Jenn and I have bonded this past year as we have watched (through the magic of blogs) our babies grown up at the same time. What's great about Jameson and Julianna is that they are on the same growth and gross motor development curve. So, they both weigh about the same and are still waiting on real first steps. It's nice to have a friend in the same boat as you wait for your toddler to start to actually toddle! :)

Jameson and Julianna after first meeting. Jenn says that this was their first date and she will be posting these pictures at their wedding. Oh, and by the way, I borrowed all of these pictures from Jenn's blog.





I love this picture!! Perfect for a future wedding display!



Mr Cautious Carl was scared to be on the swing by himself so we tandem swing. Jenn got this great shot of us.

It was great to see everyone and I can't wait for a time when we can do it again. Old friends should be cherished! I love that we can get together as grown ups and laugh and talk about all the crazy things that we did when we thought we knew everything. :)

Phone trouble

The kids have a play cell phone that they love to play with. Yesterday Drew was playing with it on the way to take Lily to school. He chatted on it all the way into the school building. The phone has a feature that when you hang it up, it will ring again about five seconds later. Once Drew had lost interest in talking on the phone he hung it up. It kept ringing and it was driving him crazy. He kept answering the phone and saying, "Hello? Stop calling me!" and again, "Hello? I said to stop calling me!!" It happened over and over until he finally just gave up! They just kept calling! :)

It was so funny!!

Fertilizer

I had a blog post planned. I was going to write it after the kids went to bed. A few more things have transpired since that first idea, but I'll go ahead and start with the original post and move forward (because it will transition nicely into my next story):

My friend Myca had a good point about blogs the other day. She said that she figured that if you're reading her blog, then you love her and her family enough to allow for some bragging rights. Saying things on the blog, that you can't say in real life, are okay because the people reading really care about what's going on with your family. Well, she sort of said that, but probably more seamlessly than that. So, because I agree with that sentiment, I am going to do a little bragging of my own. :) This post is to tell you about how much Lily is growing, learning and how creative she is.

Today we went to visit Grandma. As we were leaving Lily and Drew noticed a man on some sort of yard machine that wasn't a lawn mower. They both asked what it was. Ann explained to them that it was a fertilizing machine. When she said that, Lily informed her that fertilizer was NOT good for the ecosystem. She'd learned about it on Eco World (a PBS computer game) she said. Then Grandma told her that it was good at keeping the weeds out of your lawn so only the pretty grass could grow. Lily was not satisfied and told Grandma that they should pull the weeds instead of using the fertilizer. That girl is so smart! For her to play a computer game, retain the information she learns and then recite it correctly in a real life situation baffles me. I know she's five and growing up...but I just sometimes can't get over that she learns so much so quickly!

And now for the second half of my story: Lily has a book all about the body. She love learning all about how her body works and all the interesting things that are going on inside of her. Because of this, I got her a new book at the library yesterday. I should have looked through it more closely because it has the reproduction system, complete with diagrams! On some level she must understand that this has something to do with the baby being inside a woman. I have no idea how she figured it out, but she's been asking lots of questions about how she was made since getting this book.

This is not the first time that I have had to field questions from her regarding making babies. Rewind several months and I used to tell her that to make a baby you needed lots of love and a little bit of magic. Up until a few weeks ago, that was a perfectly fine answer. However, a few weeks ago she started asking for more information. Wanting to know in depth how it all worked. So, I told her that the man has a seed and he gives it to a woman (i was using the gardening analogy) and a baby grows. That was enough for awhile. Long ago enough for me to forget that I'd mentioned anything to her about a man having a seed. (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?)

Today on the way home from Grandma's she asked me again how the man helped that woman make the baby. I didn't answer her right away. I wanted to think about it. By the time she asked again (during story time, Drew had gone to bed,thank God.) about the baby thing I had decided that I would be matter-of-fact about it. I would explain it scientifically, to a point. Explain it just like I had when I explained to her how lungs work. So, we sat down with the Body book and when we got to the page with the women's reproductive system (I did manage to avoid the male page!! Again, thank God.), I pointed to a picture of an ovum. I told her that she had started as this very tiny cell. That the cell went into the uterus and grew into a baby and then the baby came out through the vagina. Yes! I said it! I told her about the VAGINA! (The fact that babies come out through the vagina is not news to her. We spent the weekend at the farm and saw, a little too up close and personal, a calf and his mother very soon after the birth).

I thought it was enough. I didn't want to say any more. I thought that saying the ovum grew into a baby all by itself was just enough information. She could learn about the fertilizing later (ha ha! I just realized this post is all about fertilizer!!) I'd forgotten about the seed. How did I forget about the seed??! I wish I could say that she too had forgotten. I am not so lucky. When I finished telling her all about it, her first question was, "How do they get the seed up in there?" Oh, shit!! Oh shit!! What in the hell should I say now!? So, I stalled. Aren't you supposed to turn the question back to the kid? Don't you just let them answer it themselves, satisfying their need for more information? Nope. It didn't work. She wanted more. Her answer was, "I don't know how...that's what I want to know!!" So, I did what any sane person would do. I stalled again. I told her that she'd learn about that part in fifth grade at school. Still not enough. "I don't want to learn about it then. I want to know now!" Oh, geez. And then it happened...she said, "DON"T YOU REMEMBER HOW TOM DID IT TO YOU?!"

Yes, yes she did. It made me laugh out loud. My answer? Let's go ask Daddy.

Drew received a lawn mower from the Easter Bunny. I knew he would love it but I had no idea that he would love it as much as he has! He hasn't gone anywhere without it since Easter morning. He took it with him to hunt eggs, it sits beside him at meals and he's napping right now and the lawn mower is sitting right beside his bed. He told me to put it close so that he could touch it while he was sleeping.

Not only does he have it with him at all times, he is taking cutting the grass with it very seriously. He mowed my grandparents yard at least three times before we left yesterday and our yard once before his bath last night. This morning we had to run a few errands. It took us all morning. As we were pulling in the driveway I told him that it was about time to go pick up Lily from school. And that we were going to unload the groceries and run to get her really quick before lunch. His response? "But I was going to mow the lawn this morning!" Ha ha! So, after lunch and before naps, the kid went out and cut the grass for me. Again. For the fifth time in two days.

Minor disaster

I was just scrubbing out the bathtub awhile ago. I was wondering to myself why no one ever blogs about doing the chores. Why doesn't anyone blog about the time that the scrubbed out the bathtub, just to stick their dirty stinky kids in it? Obviously, people don't blog about it because it's not really interesting. People don't like scrubbing anything and so they certainly don't like reading about it. But, anyway....

I was cleaning the bathroom today. I had just finished scrubbing out the tub and I was running water in it so I could stick the dirty kids in...I called for Drew to come in and get his clothes off. I saw Julianna doing her usual, reaching desperately for the water that was filling the tub. I told her (while I moved her) that she was going to fall in one of these days. Then, as Drew continued to strip down, I turned to wipe down the sink. During those few seconds our whole evening changed in an instant. Julianna moved back to the tub and reached for the water and fell head first into the tub. Without thinking (because who's thinking when their baby has gone face first into the full bathtub) I grabbed her. Luckily, she hadn't even taken a breath by the time I got to her, so she didn't even cough or choke. She was just soaking wet. HOWEVER, when I had turned around to grab her, I stepped on Drew's glasses. Smashed them. Knocked the lens out and squashed the frame. So, in order to save one child's life, I have rendered the other blind. :) I'm just grateful everyone is safe and we can go get a new pair of glasses tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. We spent the weekend at my grandparents farm. It was a full and fun weekend. The children are lucky that I managed to grab a nap on the way home or else Mommy would probably be having some sort of mental meltdown over the bathtub/glasses incident. Did I mention that Tom had to work tonight?

We are now dog owners. Romeo moved in about 2 weeks ago. It has been fun and a learning experience with such a young dog. I hate to compare, but Coco we an older female dog. She never chewed on much and was pretty low key (at home- out and about, not so much). Romeo has kept us on our toes. He loves to play and run and chew. He wants attention!! All. The. Time.


A few days ago we had to leave him in his kennel for a few hours while we ran errands. His kennel is in Julianna's room and while we were gone he got a hold of Julianna's area rug and managed to drag it into his kennel and destroy the WHOLE RUG. I did not take pictures. It was too depressing. I loved the rug and it was a huge mess spread all over the house by the time we got it all cleaned up. That is not my favorite part of having a dog.

As much work as he has been, he does have his perks. He loves to play with the kids and he loves to clean up the food they have dropped during meals. I love that. Keeping the kitchen floor clean has been a struggle for my entire parenting life. I hate sweeping and mopping. It's a drag. Romeo has helped me out with this chore significantly!!

Last night I made Chicken Lo Mien for dinner. It was delicious. Julianna (as usual) loved it! And was double fisting the noodles into her mouth. She made a huge mess. I had to strip her down naked in the kitchen and toss her in the sink. She was covered from head to toe in noodles!! Romeo wasted no time taking care of the floor for me. It was nice to only have to clear the table and clean up the gallons of noodles left in her highchair.


Below are a few shots of last nights dinner and the bath that followed. Julianna is such a joy and enjoyed every minute of it!! I can't believe that she's going to be 15 months tomorrow. Oh, and in other news, Julianna has finally taken her first steps. She is not walking around the house yet...but I know it's just around the corner. The advantage of her being a late walker?? The fact that she stayed a baby just that much longer. She's my last, I've got to soak up all the baby I can out of her!!

the farm

We went on an adventure to the farm last week during spring break. It was supposed to be a very warm day, but it ended up being a bit chilly and windy. We managed to have a good time anyway and are planning to head back there this Easter weekend for some more fun.

It was so cold that we made hot chocolate for a snack.
Mamaw taught us that hot chocolate is even more tasty
with a scoop of ice cream in it!

Getting into the dog's water bowl is one of Lily's favorite things to do. She has been known to strip naked and climb right in!